


Guardian

by sunflower1343



Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 01:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower1343/pseuds/sunflower1343
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A younger Feilong finishes a job and faces an unexpected consequence of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> It's Feilong's birthday so I wanted to post a couple of my fics about him this month. This one was written Jan 2006, so some newer events in the manga and novel are not accounted for.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~

The room was dingy and small. But there were touches here and there that made him aware that it had been filled with love: The little group of photos on the table under the single window. The homemade curtains with hand embroidering. The cleanliness, for all that the furnishings were shabby. 

He walked over to an old armchair and lowered himself into its embrace. The chair had that comfortable fit that showed it had held many a person over the years. He imagined the two of them, sitting here, her on his lap, happy and at ease in their home. A small place, but theirs. 

He hadn't wanted it. He'd made mistakes in the past, but never one so grievous, so painful. 

His target had stepped out of the corner liquor store onto an empty street, and he had taken his shot. Maybe the dark had made his aim slightly off, maybe it was the new gun, he wasn't sure. But he'd missed and given the man time to react, to pull his own gun out. To use the couple that walked around the corner for a shield. 

They'd been laughing, walking close, heads together. The second bullet, meant for the other, had slammed into the woman's chest as his target had pulled her in front of him. He replayed the husband's reaction in slow motion, his face turning from shock to fear to anguish to anger in an instant as he'd thrown himself toward the man he'd thought shot his wife. The man who'd then shot him, fatal wounds, in the head and neck. 

The woman, crying and screaming, had tried to reach her husband. The target had yelled at her to shut up, then shot her. His distraction had proven fatal to him. Feilong had crossed the street, a swift vengence, and pressed the barrel of the gun to the man's forehead, making sure he saw his death coming. It was a messy death, but he'd felt glad as he'd pulled the trigger. 

The couple had been beyond help. He had knelt, taking their wallet and purse to make it look like a robbery, to give himself time. Then he ran. 

He'd left his bloody overcoat in a large trash bin several blocks away. The purse and wallet had been about to follow, but he'd paused, sagging against the cold metal container. He'd always known who he was killing in the past. They'd always deserved it. 

But those two. They hadn't. Now he deserved some punishment. He needed to know these innocent people he'd killed too. Perhaps when he understood the lives he'd ended, so that he'd never forget them, his guilt might ease. He'd opened the wallet and found the address. 

 

He rested his head against the back of the chair, thinking of the happiness he'd erased from the world with one fatal mistake. There was so little joy, and he'd managed to snuff out the bit he'd come in contact with. When would he learn? He lifted his hand slightly, as if to touch their ghosts. 

_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

A noise from deeper inside the apartment made him spin out of the chair into a crouch. 

"Mommy? Daddy?"

_No. Oh please no not that._

His hands shook as the small boy stumbled into the room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was no more than four. 

The boy stopped when he saw him. His eyes widened. His voice held awe. "You're here. You came."

Feilong shook his head, confused, trying to clear the pain so he could think. "You know me?"

The boy nodded, his eyes big. "You look just like I thought you would from the stories Mommy tells me."

They told stories about him? Not about him. Not to a child. He didn't understand. 

"Who do you think I am?"

The boy smiled, his face lighting the dark room. "You're one of our eight dragons, the ones who protect us."

Feilong's breath caught for an instant. This child saw a benevolent god when he was closer to demon, though in fact he was neither. "I'm only a human."

The child came closer. Feilong flinched slightly as a small hand reached out to touch his hair. He allowed it. It was part of the punishment. 

"You're beautiful. You're more beautiful than Mommy. Only a dragon could be so beautiful."

Feilong's heart was pounding furiously, each beat driving a painful reminder through his soul. _She's dead. She's dead. It's your fault._

"Will you stay here with us and protect us? You can sleep in my room."

Protect? Him? Like he'd protected the parents? He felt the urge to laugh hysterically. The boy's hand calmly stroking his hair recalled him to himself in time. 

He looked at the small hand, so trusting, so daring, reaching out to a dragon. The decision was made in an instant. 

"I cannot stay here. But would you like to come live with me?"

The boy's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Oh? In your palace?"

Feilong nodded, watching the expressions flit across the open face before him. This one would never be able to hide his thoughts and feelings from him. 

"Would I always be with you?"

Feilong hesitated. Then nodded again. He didn't deserve a son like this. But he would see that the boy was treated with honor and respect. 

"You would be my personal servant. Always at my side."

The boy was becoming excited. "Can Mommy and Daddy come too?"

Feilong froze. The pain in his chest felt like it was about to explode. His mind desperately raced through the legends he'd read as a child. 

"Your parents have already gone beyond to another kingdom. They sent me to care for you until you're old enough to join them. They love you and wait for you."

Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. "They went away and didn't tell me?" The liquid overflowed and began running down his cheeks. "Why did they go without me? I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Feilong's last goodbye was still too fresh in his mind. He blinked rapidly as he reached out and pulled the child into his embrace. "They went because it was their time. They had no choice. But I'm here to say goodbye for them. They love you. Always remember that they love you. And I will love you in their place, if you come live with me."

He didn't know why, but it was important that the child say yes. He tilted the boy's chin up with a finger. "Will you come with me?"

The boy threw himself forward and buried his face in Feilong's shoulder, grasping onto the only thing he now had in the world. "Yes, Lung-sama."

For some reason the answer loosened all that had tightened in his chest. Feilong rested his cheek on the soft black hair for a moment. "Call me Fei-sama. It's a secret name that only very special people may call me. Will you do that?"

The boy raised his tear streaked face, and sniffed. He wiped his eyes, and a shy smile appeared. "Yes, Fei-sama. Thank you Fei-sama. I promise to be your best servant ever, if you promise never to leave me."

He lifted the child as he stood, his burden lighter than when he had entered the room. "I promise that. I have a palace in Hong Kong where you will live. Sometimes my journeys take me far, but it will always be a home to the both of us. I will always return to you."

He carried the child to the door, not stopping to gather the boy's belongings. He'd have his men box things up for when the boy was older. For now, he'd give the boy all he needed. 

The boy tugged at his hair. "Fei-sama. Will you use my special name too?"

As he looked at the child's face, eyes full of adoration, he felt an unaccustomed warmth melting the edges of his frozen heart. "Of course I will. What is the name in your heart, child?"

"It's Tao, Fei-sama."

"Then, Tao, let us go home."

He paused as they were leaving the apartment. 

_Please. Rest easily._

_I will care for him, always._

 

~end~


End file.
